“In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.” —Lao-Tzu

High in the Sierra, beside a deep lake, the snow melts in steady trickles along the shore. I dip my hands under a small outpouring and wonder, where does the white of the snow go? There’s a scrap of white left in the water; from certain angles a shard of white flares. So the white is in there, somewhere, but it has given up most of its whiteness and received in return blue, green, and gray. It had no expectation of what might come later, yet what came later was an array of colors.

At times when I have been willing to give away old, worn-out pieces of myself, such as destructive thought patterns like my focus on loss or limitation, and transform my thinking to living in a new pattern, I have found more color and beauty than I had dreamed possible. Try simply giving away a negative habit, rather than wrestling to conquer or subdue it. Just give it away with no thought for something better, bigger, more expensive or more comfortable taking its place. Give it away, with divine help, as an act of power as fluid as the melting of ice, as a step toward becoming one with your true will, as surely as snow runs to the sea.